Sustainable strategies for floating settlements development

The title of the thesis is giving us the idea of the two main devlopment directions on the whole project, namely strategies and floating settlements. These two words are the main issue for our society in present days as well as the near future. This work is the product of a research project that at various stages analyzed the meaning of precarious or temporary architecture, and the role they can play in relation to co temporary problems resulting from severe climate and socio-economic changes. The fact that the problems of coastal settlements are growing strongly, united to the urban potential that you can find in these situations, make these places a condensation of conflicts and values which if managed properly can generate innovative, adaptable and easy to apply. In this perspective Ganvie serves just as a test of this conviction: in an extremely delicate at the same time we find the presence of strong challenges and potential for adaptation to them. The attempt is to convert the precariousness and fragility of this environment in a strength that allows an easy introduction of adaptation strategies. In most cases the villages on stilts are confined to lagoon systems or river deltas that favor the local economy generally tied to the fishing. This is the type of town that most interests this thesis: their nature extremely precarious and sometimes temporary, coupled with their economic dependence on a very delicate ecosystems makes it very vulnerable but at the same time prepared to change.The theme (the purpose) is a construction of the ‘’place’’ by the “citizen” through collaborations with local authorities and associations and the voluntary work of the members of the collective and residents, the project has to be able to trigger processes of transformation of public space all over Ganviè. The process that will be followed is the so called participated design, led on by temporary events that in a predicted period of time will become permanent functions for the whole community. This thesis will focus on the physical threeshold composed by the living area and the working area which mostly characterize the whole settlement and it is well recognizable from any top view of the latter. As both the working and living areas are putting heavy pressures on the ecosystem, they both push towards the transition space between them: the threshold. In this threshold, which also acts as a boundary for the settlement limits and a reference for future expansion towards the South, we will propose functions that will improve Ganvie socially, culturally, economically and environmentally.

Strategie sostenibili per villaggi lacustri